23% of Northern Irish wouldn’t want gay neighbour
June 24th, 2009
More than one in five people in Northern Ireland say they would not want to live next to someone who was lesbian, gay or bisexual, according to a new survey released today.
The Equality Commission questioned over 1000 people about their views on minority groups. The survey found that people’s attitudes towards minority groups have significantly deteriorated since the last survey three years ago.
23% of those surveyed said ‘they would mind’ having an LGB neighbour. In 2005 just 14% said they would mind.
51% said they would not want to live next to a Traveller, compared to 41% in 2005.
23% had a problem with a migrant worker neighbour, 16% would not want to live next to a person with mental ill-health, 6% would not want to live next to a person with a physical disability.
Only 6% of those surveyed said they would mind living next to someone of a different religion.
“The findings suggest a hardening of views towards some people and also the complexities around those views,” said Bob Collins, Chief Commissioner of the Equality Commission.
“Attitudes became more intense as the respondents considered closer social contact with the groups in question. So, in attitudes towards many groups, more people would mind having them as an in-law, than would mind having them as a neighbour or a work colleague.
“The most negative attitudes were expressed towards Travellers. A substantial minority also responded negatively towards gay, lesbian or bisexual people and towards migrant workers.
“These findings will help the Equality Commission and other bodies to focus on those areas which offer the greatest challenge to achieving equality of opportunity and a fair society.”
Support overall for equality legislation in Northern Ireland was extremely high, with 92% of respondents agreeing there is a need for such laws.
A significant proportion of respondents (16%) said they had experienced some form of harassment or had been treated unfairly during the past three years because they belonged to a particular group.
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